And Now The Return of Another New Slideshow (Sort of) [**Now featuring alternate versions of scenes - see replies #60,#82,#116,#138,#157,#180,#224,#240,#280,#372,#526**]

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And to give you something else to look forward to, on the 23rd I'll be sharing the very first article published for the film that features photos taken of some of the first scenes shot for the film. It you've never seen the article, you might be surprised which scenes were soon to be shot after shooting began with Angelique's funeral...

And here is the first page of the article:

(Click here for a clearer 1200X1609 version of the page.)

And here's the second page of the article:

(Click here for a clearer 1200X1609 version of the page.)

Most of the photos were never published anywhere else (only the photo of Angelique's hanging showed up again, which makes me suspect that the others *may* have been taken by Flip's own photographer, whereas the hanging is an 'official' still).

It was quite thrilling to find this article because up to that point we didn't really have much idea what "Curse of Dark Shadows" was about. Although, I do think the photo captions give away way too much plot info, especially for a first look at the film. (But then the magazines did the same thing with hoDS and with every other film that they ever publicized.) And given that we were provided with prior knowledge of it, after we saw the film my friends and I were like "What happened to the seance?!" Of course, we soon figured it was left on the cutting room floor just like some of the scenes from hoDS that we'd been provided photos/descriptions (can you say Julia's walk with Barnabas, David hanging, among others) prior to the release of that film - but little did we know then the real behind-the-scenes circumstances of what had happened with this film...

And it's quite interesting to see that they say Angelique was executed for "adultery" rather than for witchcraft. And adultery is given as the reason in other articles as well, which further complicates the question of 'Was she or wasn't she a witch?' Not to mention it flies in the face of the stated reason given in the film...

[Uncle Roger]

These are outstanding pictures, MB! I don't think that I ever saw them before. I never read Flip. I was strictly a 16 reader. It is kind of interesting that the adultery issue was brought up in a teen magazine.

[Gothick]

Those are very cool, MB!  I have never seen this article before.

Many thanks!

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Moving to the next scene in the current sequence (using Grayson's script again because DC didn't changed the names):

CUT TO: 126    EXT - BACK OF COLLINWOOD - DAY - HIGH ANGLE       126        The rain has finally stopped.  A heavy ground mist        now swirls about the great hanging tree.  Angelique        stands on a branch high up in the tree, a noose        about her neck.  She is held by two of the men.                         Strack        Gabriel, Quentin, Trask and the other two men stand        below.  Samantha and Mrs. Castle watch from the        veranda.  Laura

And that's when today's quote -

Page 63/Scene 126 - Strack: 'Angelique Collins, you have been condemned as a witch and you must die as a witch. Let your soul be returned to the pits of darkness forever more.'

- comes up.

And when it comes to differences in the dialogue, Scene 126 actually begins with another unscripted voiceover from Carlotta and it says "Finally the rain stopped and a cold wind swept the grounds. It was then I saw her, high in the tree, a rope around her neck. Reverend Strack stared up at her, his face a mask of hatred" - and it isn't until the voiceover concludes that Strack delivers his lines, which are actually "Angelique Collins, you have been condemned as a witch and you must die. But your spirit will not live after you. For your earthly remains will hang here until your spirit returns to the pits of darkness forever more" - and one of the interesting things about that is that during Quentin's created dream due to the enforced cuts, Strack actually does say "Angelique Collins, you have been condemned as a witch and you must die as a witch", so for some reason or other DC decided to drop the "as a witch" part in this scene. And shouldn't "forever more" actually be spelled as one word: "forevermore"?

And when it comes to differences in the directions and the descriptions, the scene doesn't quite begin with a high angle shot because, as can be seen in the following capture -

- it would seem to be a ground level long shot that lasts as long as the voiceover speaks about the rain and the wind - and there is no visible ground mist - and if one looks closely there are actually five of Strack's henchmen present in the shot: two atop the platform in the tree, one standing by at the bottom of each of the two ladders, and another (though he can barely be seen due to the size of the capture) standing off to the right of the henchman that Angelique scratched - and as can be seen in this next capture, it's much clearer that Angelique and the two men are standing on a platform -

- rather than on a branch in the tree (think of how dangerous that would have been for the actors, especially with them being so high up in the tree - and Lara Parker actually commented on how dangerous it was to shoot as it is, but more on that at a later time), and that shot lasts as long as the voiceover takes to mostly describe Angelique in the tree - and as can be seen in this third capture, it's then that a high angle crane shot is used -

- to show the vantage point from higher in the tree - and it's quite clear in that capture that Mrs. Castle and Laura are not watching from the veranda - and the fifth man is also able to be seen a bit better if one spots the rope around Angelique's neck and traces it down from the tree to her. The three of them may actually be seen better in today's capture -

- what with the fifth man in the foreground and Mrs. Castle and Laura in the background.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Given today's graphic, it's probably obvious that today's quote -

Page 63/Scene 126 - Angelique: 'As I die, so shall all of you. For that will be my legacy --'

- is dropped in the film. And ever since reading the script I've found that bit of dialogue to be very interesting for two reason:

• In a bit of upcoming dialogue in this scene Strack refers to Angelique's "threats," yet we never hear her make any.
• And seemingly cursing everyone would certainly appear to add more evidence that Angelique really is a witch.

So why keep Strack's reference to the threats but drop the actual threat? I suppose only DC knows. But again, it might have been because DC wanted the "Is she or isn't she a witch?" question to be rather ambiguous. Who knows? 

And of course, there's no way to know if anything about the quote might have been different in the film when it doesn't appear in the film.

But changing the subject entirely, I want to share an article from the NoDS Pressbook that relates to what we're covering in the script now. If you've never seen the article or read Lara Parker's comments elsewhere (they've been quoted in a few places), you'll probably enjoy them:

(And unfortunately none of the photos in the pressbook scan very well.    But that's probably related to the fact that they were designed to be printed in a newspaper or magazine and apparently the process for formatting photos that way doesn't play nicely with the way scanners work.)

And finally, one thing that I just realized while I was posting all this is that in the photo of Angelique's hanging in the Flip article Angelique's hands are not tied behind her like they are in the film. Not that that's an important realization, it's just interesting. Or at least to me it is.    Normally we see people with their hands tied before the noose is put around their necks and not afterward because tying their hands first prevents them from interfering with the placing of the noose. But then, who knows if that photo is from the preparation to shoot the scene or even a possible rehearsal...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

A reworked version of today's quote from the script -

Page 63/Scene 126 - Strack: 'I ask the good Lord to forgive your blasphemy. Prepare yourself for eternity, witch.'

 - is actually delivered later in the film, in Scene 129, after tomorrow's two quotes, which we'll see are from Scenes 127 and 128. So we'll deal with what Strack's actual lines are once the slideshow reaches Scene 129 on the 27th...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And since there wasn't much to say about today's quote, I want to revisit these posts from almost four years ago because they related to the current scene:

There seems to be more picture information on all four sides of the 4x3. Was NoDS shot open-matte?

Yes, NODS was shot open matte, but the frames MB posted with the drawing are not identical frames. On the Blu-ray, I went to the same frame that MB posted from the VHS. The Blu-ray has very slightly more picture information on both the left and right sides as compared to the VHS. (And since this seems to confirm that the old video transfer was essentially "open frame", that explains why the DVD that I made from my laserdisc ended up looking pleasantly framed when I would watch it in zoom mode on my widescreen TV. It's essentially what the original intended to look like in the theaters.)

The old VHS/LD transfer was nearly open matte.  It's a 1.33 extraction from the frame, but it's not quite edge to edge.  As a result, it doesn't show quite as much on the left and right as is possible, but does show more top and bottom than is meant to be seen.  In an overhead shot of Angelique hanging, you can see at the very bottom of the frame the edge of the cherry picker that the camera is on, and in the piano scene at the beginning, you can briefly spot the floor mic poking into frame on the left.

...

I have to say, though, that even though I had noticed while watching the VHS version on my computer (while getting screen caps) that occasionally the edge of something that looked like it might be metal of some sort sneaked into frame at the very bottom of some of the overheard shots during the hanging scene -

- I never would have guessed it was the edge of the cherry picker - and quite honestly more often than not I don't even pay attention to that sort of stuff because I'm too caught up in the story and paying attention to the characters. 

Whoa - the hanging of Angelique is far less moody on the NoDS VHS without the color correction! But then, I've mentioned elsewhere in this topic that for a few different reasons I can barely even stand to look at the NoDS VHS now that I have the Blu-ray...

(ADMIN: Edited to replace VHS capture with a Laser Disc capture)

[KMR]

Whoa - the hanging of Angelique is far less moody on the NoDS VHS without the color correction! But then, I've mentioned elsewhere in this topic that for a few different reasons I can barely even stand to look at the NoDS VHS now that I have the Blu-ray...

Yes, the Blu-ray of NoDS is really something quite gorgeous. Gosh, I'm going to have to pop it into the player again sometime soon!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Moving along with Scene 126 and beyond (this time using DC's script):

Angelique looks down at Charles.        THE GROUP - ANGELIQUE'S P.OV.        ZOOM IN TO CLOSE-UP OF CHARLES as he looks up at her.        WIDE ANGLE        With the house in the B.G., ZOOM IN TO THE UPSTAIRS        WINDOW OF SARAH'S ROOM, her face is pressed against        the glass, her eyes wide with fear. 127    INT - SARAH'S ROOM - DAY                          127        THROUGH THE WINDOW - SARAH'S P.O.V.        SLOW ZOOM IN ON ANGELIQUE.  Although her lips are not        moving, we hear her voice.

And that's when today's first quote -

Page 64/Scene 127 - Angelique's Voice: 'I have lost him, but I will have him again...you will help me, Sarah...'

- is scripted to come up, followed in the script by:

128    SARAH - EXTREME CLOSE-UP                          128

And that's when today's second quote -

Page 64/Scene 128 - Angelique's Voice: 'You will know when the time comes...for it is your love that will keep me alive...'

- is scripted to come up.

And when it comes to differences in the dialogue, there aren't any because the quotes are delivered in the film exactly as scripted. But when it comes to where those quoted lines are actually delivered, as well as the differences in the directions and the descriptions, so, so much is different in the film than it is in the script. To begin with, as can be seen in the following capture -

- the only time we see Charles look up at Angelique during what's been covered recently is after the camera pans Gabriel, Strack and reaches Charles in Scene 126 as Strack wraps up saying "until your spirit returns to the pits of darkness forevermore" - and considering that Angelique's quote for the 24th was dropped and Strack's reworked quote for the 25th was moved to Scene 129, right after we see Charles look up at Angelique in Scene 126, as can be seen in today's first capture -

- things cut immediately to Angelique looking down at Charles - however, after that, we don't see the group from her P.O.V. (and yes, in the script it's written as "P.OV."), we don't see a zoom in to a close-up of Charles as he looks up at her, and we don't see all that DC has crossed out in his script - and the reason behind all that is that, while DC has a note in his script that says there's a long lens shot of Angelique as she looks down, and that can definitely be seen in today's first capture above, the note then goes on to say that Angelique "looks up to heaven", but that doesn't happen because, as can be seen in the following capture -

- immediately after looking down, Angelique actually looks over toward Sarah's window - and while DC also has a note that the wide angle shot and zoom in on Collinwood that he crossed out in his script would be replaced buy an Angelique's P.O.V. shot of the house without any zoom, that note is also crossed out in his script and the shot doesn't take place because what we actually see immediately after Angelique looks over is simply a shot of Sarah in her room, holding her doll -

- and looking out the window. However, what's interesting about all that is that Angelique's quote from Scene 127 actually plays over what we see of Charles looking up at Angelique and her looking down at him ("I have lost him"), looking over toward Sarah's window ("but I will have him again..."), and Sarah looking out the window ("you will help me, Sarah..."). Then, when things move to Scene 127, we do indeed see the slow zoom in on Angelique through the window and from Sarah's P.O.V. -

- but the beginning of the quote from Scene 128 plays over that part of Scene 127 ("You will know when the time comes...for it is your love"), while only the last part ("that will keep me alive") plays over the close-up of Sarah -

- from Scene 128 as she nods her understanding of what Angelique is somehow telling her.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Moving on to the next two scenes in the sequence:

129    EXT - COLLINWOOD - DAY - HIGH ANGLE               129        Looking directly down on Angelique.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 64/Scene 129 - Strack: 'May the devil take his own!'

- is scripted to come up, followed in the script by:

Suddenly Angelique drops from the branch.  As the        rope goes taut, her body jerks to a sudden stop.        WHIP PAN up to Sarah's window and ZOOM IN TO HER        HORRIFIED FACE as she SCREAMS and runs from the        sight.  NOTE:  THIS IS THE SAME SCENE QUENTIN SAW        IN ONE OF THE EARLIER MEMORY CUTS. 131    EXT - GROUNDS - DAY - HIGH ANGLE                  131        The body hangs from the tree as the men descend        the ladder to the ground.  Then everyone SLOWLY        EXITS THE SHOT.

And when it comes to differences in the dialogue, what Strack actually prefaces today's quote with is "Oh Lord, Thou hast heard her threats. Protect us from her evils. Guard us with Thy invincible strength. For Thou knowest that we do what we must for Thy sake, in Thy name. Amen. Prepare yourself for eternity, witch" - and after all that is when Strack actually says "Let the devil take his own!"

And when it comes to the differences in the directions and the descriptions, as can be seen in the following capture -

- Scene 129 would certainly seem to actually open with the exact same ground level long shot that Scene 126 opens with, though it lasts longer (for the duration of Strack invoking "Oh Lord, Thou hast heard her threats. Protect us from her evils. Guard us with Thy invincible strength" - and it isn't until after that that things switch to being shot from the high angle looking down on Angelique -

- and it is different footage from what we've seen before because we can actually see Strak's lips move exactly with his continued invocation as he says "For Thou knowest that we do what we must for Thy sake, in Thy name. Amen. Prepare yourself for eternity, witch" - and after that things switch to a shot of Angelique and the two men holding her -

- with her quite understandably looking quite upset and the man on her right turning to look at her - and it's after that that we then see Charles, Strack and Gabriel shot from below, as they are in today's capture -

- and Strack orders "Let the devil take his own!" and Angelique, also shot from below, falls from the platform -

- though in the 94 minute version of the film we do not see Angelique's body jerk to a sudden stop because that is only seen in the 97 minute and 129 minute versions of the film (and more on that in a future post) - and while we do see Sarah scream and run from her window (and also more on that in the future post), we don't see a whip pan or a zoom in to her, but what we do see afterward is a shot Charles having been looking back at her -

- to tie things into Quentin's memory back in Scene 75, and Charles then turn to look back -

 - to watch things that only happen in the 97 minute and 129 minute versions of the film (and also more on that in the future post) - and when it comes to Scene 131 (which I honestly believe should be numbered 130 - but more on that in another future post), while Angelique's body is hanging up in the tree, and while we do see the main characters exit the shot, the men do not descend the ladder to the ground because in fact the two men atop the platform remain and as the main characters move toward Collinwood, one of men moves to one of the ladders -

- and then -

- climbs up it.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here are two of the three things that I said would be coming in a future post. Thanks to the fact that several of the NoDS trailers/TV spots contain material missing from the 94 minute version of the film (and also from the 97 minute version - but we won't be dealing with that stuff for a while yet) I've been able to make two videos of material that was cut from Angelique's hanging. However, first up here's how Angelique's hanging appears in the 94 minute version of the film:

Now how Angelique was intended to be seen dropping from the platform, as the rope goes taut her body jerks around, and as one of Strack's henchmen reaches to grab the rope:

And here's how Angelique was intended to be see as the henchmen pull her body up (which is what Charles sees when he turns back):

Enjoy!  Especially when who knows when we might actually see either sequence in a restored 129 minute version...

(ADMIN: Edited to add videos and remove animated GIFs)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And speaking of henchmen, is the guy on Angelique's right in the following capture from one of the NoDS trailers (of footage that doesn't actually even appear in the film during the zoom to Angelique in Scene 127) -

- the same guy that is actually seen in the film up on the platform with Angelique?

Not to mention Angelique hair doesn't even look the same!

[KMR]

MB, it looks like those scenes were filmed on separate days, and the continuity people apparently weren't doing their job very well...  My guess is that the scenes involving Angelique communicating with Sarah were one day, and the scenes involving the actual hanging were done another day.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

the continuity people apparently weren't doing their job very well...

Continuity in DS - now there's a concept!! 

Truthfully though, the only slip up I'd ever noticed in NoDS was Carlotta's hair in Scene 80. In the two shot of her with Quentin, it's fine:

But in Carlotta's close-ups there's a curl that shouldn't be there:

But to get back to the zooms, now that we've discovered that there's some difference between the film's zoom and the zoom in the trailers, it's even more interesting to see how much of the footage that appears in the trailers isn't in the film because during the film's zoom there's a jump cut and a dissolve that renders the guy standing to Angelique's right practically invisible. Check out the following two videos that I've done of each:

(ADMIN: Edited to add videos and remove animated GIFs)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And finally getting back to the third thing I said in Reply #384 would be coming in a future post. And that is that I never realized until getting captures for this project that the three versions that we see in the film of Sarah screaming at the window:

• Quentin's "memory" in Scene 75
• In Scene 80 when Quentin recalls back what he saw
• And when Charles sees Sarah in Scene 129

are not only all different in some way or other, but they're actually three completely different takes of Sarah screaming. Check them out:

And in case anyone besides me was wondering, I checked two of the trailers and both of those feature the version of Sarah screaming that appears in Scene 75. Though who knows if there's any other footage used in any of the trailers that most of us has assumed is the same as in the film, but it's actually not...

(ADMIN: Edited to add videos and remove animated GIFs)